Tallgrass prairies used to dominate the Illinois landscape before European settlement and corn and soy agriculture. While there are very few prairies left in the state, what remains requires a special ...

Skip the crowds and explore these peaceful nature escapes across Illinois, featuring sandstone canyons, floating bogs, ...

Illinois, nicknamed the Prairie State by early settlers, once was dominated by a tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Prairies are characterized by deep, fertile soils that are the result of thousands of ...

If Nachusa Grasslands Preserve in north-central Illinois were a television reality show, it might be called Extreme Makeover: Prairie Edition — From Prairie to Farm Field and Back Again. Pieced ...

Two hundred years ago, nearly two-thirds of Illinois was covered in prairie. Today, less than 0.01% of that prairie land remains. The rest has been lost to agricultural development, urbanization and ...

Editor’s note: This segment was rebroadcast on Sept. 1, 2025. Click here for that audio. The North American prairie rivals the Amazon rainforest in its biological diversity, and it’s disappearing even ...